At this month’s ITSMF Atlanta Local Interest Group (LIG) meeting last week, Gene Kim (CTO of Tripwire) presented on the Visible Ops methodology and some of the early results of an IT Controls Benchmarking Survey that has been ongoing for six years. The sample companies and insdusties covered in the study are very diverse and cover small to large sized IT shops. Goals of the study include understanding what top performing companies are doing in the area of IT operations, best practices and controls. A specifical goal is to learn which IT controls and best practices to focus on baesd on what these top performers are doing.
The study results are to be released in the next month or so. Keep an eye out at the IT Process Institute’s webpage here. You can access the presentation and early findings by joining the Atlanta ITSMF LIG here. ITPI has some additional information on the study and information on participating here.
I’m not quite sure where I sit with the whole Visible Ops idea yet. I need to re-read the book and think about it some more. It all seems like common sense to me – and I like common sense approaches to ITSM. I guess it’s getting the sales pitch separated from the content that I still need to do. I had a bad taste in my mouth with Tripwire in a previous role where multiple internal groups were out talking to vendors after attending a trade show. I can remember many of them taking the Tripwire pitch hook, line and sinker before any requirements were determined. I spent months reeling those groups back into line trying to get them to figure out requirements and processes first before technology and tools.